Agnes Widbom, Artist
Agnes Widbom (b. 1990, Stockholm) lives in San Francisco and explores the relationship between the body, the senses, and their surroundings through painting, photography, and video. Agnes was invited by Swedish Tyre Recycling to interpret tyre recycling through her art. The work resulted in the creations "Sun" and "Drop".
"Sun"
The artwork interprets tyre recycling by bringing together cyclical movements such as breathing, the sun, and recycled tyre rubber. The process highlights the temporal connection between the invention of the tyre and the photogram, also known as a sun print—a type of photography without a camera, where an image is created as the light-sensitive solution darkens to blue where the paper is exposed to sunlight.
Agnes Widbom placed granulate powder from recycled tyres onto limestone paper coated with a light-sensitive solution, then blew across it. Through this breath, Agnes aimed to symbolise that by using recycled materials, we can extend the lifespan of the world and human existence, making them more sustainable. As her breath dispersed the rubber granules into various patterns over the light-sensitive surface, the shadows of the granulate powder were transformed into points of light. Agnes then allowed the image to be exposed under the sun’s varying positions in the sky, capturing a range of shadows and tones.
The result was shifting blue hues and points of light in various compositions that evoke something atmospheric and dynamic. The images aim to create a positive interpretation of the tyre recycling process, linking the recycled tyre material to broader questions about why we recycle—ultimately for a cleaner, and therefore bluer, atmosphere and for deeper breaths.
50% recycled granulate powder, cherry pit coal, and water
"Drop"
In the image, rubber granulate is mixed with water and charcoal from burnt cherry pits. From the centre of the paper, the mixture flows in the opposite direction. The circle, or core, appears to both leak and be held firmly in the centre. The image depicts movement and fixation, much like the tyre material, which undergoes a dynamic process in recycling before being fixed into a new material.
